Sample Motivational Speech

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Business Motivational speech - We must embrace diversity in the workplace -

Sample

Summary: This speech is ideal for motivating an audience into believing the bonuses to
business of accepting diversity in the workplace. It may be used by a business teacher or by a
trade unionist or, in fact, a manger or executive who wants to motivate an audience to share
his/her beliefs. It may also be used as a general speech by a member of a group such as
Toastmasters.

There is a change in the weather ahead for all businesses. It is one being shaped and swirled by
the changing winds and tides of human demographics and markets. It will affect every business -
and will threaten the very survival of many. We will, quite literally, need all hands on deck if our
businesses are to survive. We've got to face the challenge of embracing diversity. The figures,
solid projection borne out by the last few decades, are astounding. Any business hoping to
survive and thrive should be listening and acting now

No one should be in any doubt of the power of minorities to changes the status quo. By 2008
projected figures state that women and minorities will represent 70% of the new labour force. By
2010 34% of the US work force will be non Caucasian. In the next decade it is estimated that
75% of new workers will most likely be from Asia. The US and Europe combined will provide
only 3% of the world's new labour force. These figures are not just a matter of race or ethnicity,
they are a demographic shockwave that is set to revolutionise spending patterns and markets.

We have always taken great comfort from the fact that good business should be like a well-
designed ship. The market is its ocean, with all the currents, tides and swells and occasionally the
Bermuda triangles. A well designed ship will have everything on board fastened and functioning
to the best of its ability. It will navigate well to take advantage of the winds and the elements can
offer it. Like a good business it will sail, with the wind, its crew all knowing their function and
their duties.

Each individual crew member is an individual, yet they will pull together knowing that their
similarities and goals are far more important than their differences. Their pride in their voyage
and their skill and their destination and even their journey together is something that they will
tell with relish. They will listen to and learn from each other. They know they are not here
through luck, but through skill and determination. They understand that any ship not taking full
advantage of the winds will lag behind and even perish. The backers know this too, they pick a
wise experienced captain who knows how to get the best from his or her team. This will be a
captain and officers who on a long voyage are open to the new. They will be able to improvise
and appoint. That team will by its nature be diverse. Its skills will be different yet
complimentary. They will understand and even look upon their voyage in different ways. Yet no
one doubts the value of such diversity. It is what life is made of. We must act as facilitators to
allow this diversity to happen in our own particular businesses.

It is strange then to hear the cry for a more diverse work force is any surprise at all. The surprise
is that we have avoided the situation for so long. Diversity is the only way a business is gong to
sail the waters of the coming decades and probably for centuries ahead of us. The reality of
women's equality in the work force has been with us for many decades. Worryingly for some
business even that vital equation is still not seen as a 'fait accompli'.

The same may be said for issues of race and disability. Yet the writing is on the wall for far
larger and more comprehensive changes. These are not being brought about by philanthropic
magnates with big hearts. They are being brought about by demographic and economic realities.
There are vast changes that are some of the biggest waves and currents that our ship, no matter
what it size, is gong to have to face. Ignoring them will leave any ship floundering.

Already minorities account for trillions of dollars worth of spending power. That spending power
will in a few decades outpace that of traditional Caucasian consumers Business are finding that
in order to survive, yet alone compete and to expand it must understand and move into these
markets. Doing so is an essential part of diversity.

The need for change is also being driven by the demographics of aging 'baby boomers' (those
born between 1944- 1960). This massive group is already beginning retirement. Yet there are
simply not enough young applicants to fill their places. By 2010 the US work force will have an
increase of 29% 45-64 year olds, and 14% of those who are 65 years old plus. At the same time
they will experience a one percent decline in the 18-44 age group. Things are changing faster and
more irrevocably that we could have imagined a few decades ago.

Diversity must be understood and embraced. It must become an intrinsic part of our philosophy.
The remarkable thing is that such diversity is really far more than a matter or survival. It means
embracing and celebrating the differences of every individual. This extends through age, class,
race, ethnicity, gender and sexuality. It also has important ramifications for spiritual and
religious beliefs as well as disabilities and educational status. We have moved on from the idea
that everybody is in reality the same. We are patently not and a good job too.

We are living in an age when flexibility and creativity are the keys to competitiveness. We
should be seeking not just diversity but the values in our differences. Yet too often we are
operating from old stereotypes and fears. It is part of the human condition reflected in business is
that fear or a sense of threat is often met with a desire to cling to traditional and safe patterns. We
find some solace in those whose appearance reflects our own as well as their outlook. In fact the
very thing that is needed is expansion and inclusiveness to working with new ideas and new
people who can help us discover more for ourselves.
Many corporations establish businesses in third world countries simply because lower costs
mean higher profits. In doing so they are missing out on a great opportunity to embrace diversity.
The people who work in these corporations may not have the same technical skills as those at
home but perhaps they have more imagination, more knowledge of local needs. They have
sometime more to offer than a cheap labour force. Busiensses have to realise this and seek out
what they have to offer.

These are emotional issues. No two human beings are the same after all. Diversity no matter on
what it is based is a rich and perhaps the richest resource we have. It is the source of all creativity
and innovation. It is seeing things differently and without that ability we would have ground to a
halt a long time ago as a society. Yet we have in front us a compelling reason but also an obvious
challenge for change and a celebration of experience honesty and inclusiveness. We should be
grabbing it with both hands.

On one level it is simply reflecting our avowed beliefs for every individual. That is our belief in
equal rights and equality of opportunity. On another level our hands are being forced by these
great tidal waves of change and the very existence of globalisation itself. More than that we
should be way ahead by now seeing what a tremendous benefit such diversity can be for
business. No matter what the business recognising diversity means a benefit for the individual,
the organisation and for society as a whole.

Employees who are feted and celebrated do not have the grievances often felt by those who feel
they are discriminated against. They might too find that costs of training are more than recouped
by staying longer in a place of work. Employees will be and if that business is contributing to
their community, they will take more pride in that work. The benefits and positives are obvious.
The statistics are staggering and may mean the difference between a thriving and surviving
business and a diving business.

Encouragement of workplace diversity is no longer wishful thinking or a option. It is going to be

an essential facet of every business wishing to succeed. In turn it will bring that business, greater
adaptability and flexibility. It will mean that a business in a position to attract the best talent from
a range of groups. It will mean potentially vast savings in turnover, absenteeism, and training. It
will mean a good return on investment on policies in these areas. It will mean greater creativity,
interest and dynamics. It will mean an expanded market share of local and global business. It will
mean increased sales and profits. It will mean a happier ship with its sails full of wind.

We must embrace diversity in the workplace

The world it is a changing place
And we should all change too
Realising that such changing times
Will mix age, gender and hue.
Workforces will be different to
The ones we've known before
It's time that we prepared for
The future that's in store.
We've got to have an open mind
Do our research and we will find
That minorities will take their place
That in our businesses we've got to face
The fact that diversity is here and now
We must embrace that change somehow.

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